What exactly IS Paleo?

I realize that some of you who will be reading this don't know the first place to start when it comes to eating healthy. Some of you know the basics of our typical American "healthy eating" that includes whole grains.

Up until about a year ago I had no clue what "Paleo" eating meant. It took some time to get my head around the no grain thing. I mean I've done Atkins so I get the no carb thing right so whats the difference between the two I thought. Well there are LOTS of differences. While a huge part of living the paleo lifestyle is about food, it's also about how you move your body, which I will cover in a future post.

Wouldn't it be so cool if you could have just a few simple rules for eating clean and losing body fat, not to mention all the other health benefits such as reversing disease? Well here they are...

Simple rules to follow

• Eat grass fed & finished organic lean meat (think free range on a farm)


• Eat fresh local organic veggies -whatever is in season should be on sale at the store but we have so many local resources we should be shopping there (non starchy ie. potatoes)


• Eat good fats (coconut oil, avocados, seeds)


• Eat berrys & other fruits *excerpt from Robb Wolf "Limit fruit to 1 serving per day if fat loss is your goal. A serving is not a whole watermelon. If you want
  to screw things up and not make progress, eat all the fruit you want, it’s your nickel, ride the ride as
  you like. In order of preference: Berries, melons, citrus, apples, pears. Bananas, papayas and mangoes
  are great for athletes post workout but dodgy for folks who want to lose weight."


• Eat eggs (farm fresh)


• Eat fish (wild caught)

Our local farms: Harvest

Things to Simply Avoid

• Sugar


• Grains & Legumes (yes this means no rice, 100% whole wheat, peanuts or beans)


• Dairy (cheese, milk etc.)


• Anything processed (this means if it had to be taken from its original state it's processed)

The Basics

• Protein every meal


• 3-4 meals per day


• Limit fruit to 1 serving if fat loss is a goal


• Limit nuts to 1-2 oz if fat loss is a goal


• Beverages are coffee, tea, mineral water. Unsweetened.

What REALLY works...

Everyone is looking for what really works to get rid of that "tummy" or "thunder thighs" get a "really nice ass". I'm gonna break it down for ya.

Nothing really works by itself. You can train your heart out, do the most brutal workouts known to man, but if your still eating pizza every night or rollin through the drive through for lunch you wont see diddly squat.

Most of us have tried to do just one or the other. Either we count calories, carbs, or fat and we have no energy to workout. Or we workout for 2 hours a day and get so damn hungry we cant see straight and wanna ram the car in front of us outta the way of FOOD! There might be some people out there who have a great relationship with food...not me! I love food all kinds, but most of it my body hates and it shows me by bloating up like a beached whale or making me go into a food coma. So through the years on my journey to become fit I have tried just about every diet there was to try to accomplish low body fat and I have just about killed myself on the other end with workouts to achieve a rock hard professional volley ball player ass. I'm still not perfect and I don't expect myself to be anymore, that's OK. But along the way I have found that there is NO short cut. You see it's really a simple solution as to "What really works" but it's HARD!

Because it's hard is why we aren't all in movie star shape. Here's what it takes...

-Commitment- You have to commit to yourself first, decide what your goals are, then announce it to the world! If you want to wear a size 6 then commit to it! If you want to run your first race, do a triathlon, take a vacation and wear your first bikini since you were 12 then DO IT! You really can do it. Believing you can is probley the hardest part of your goal.

-Accountability- Find someone or a few someones to be accountable to. Did you make all your workouts this week? Did you eat on plan this week or today even? Report it back to them so they can give you a high five. Or if you didn't they can call you out on it and help you get your head back in the game.

-Workouts- What's your style? Having someone there to tell you what to do next, do 5 more, push harder, go further? Going at it alone with your ipod on in your zone? Find what you hate/love to enjoy and go at it 3x a week, and when you are there GO FOR IT!!! "Go big or go HOME!" Be consistant, make it your YOU time.

-Supplements- It's impossible to get all of your nutrients from food these days. Maybe if we all lived in "Little House on the Prairie" days we could but lets face it we live in a world that doesn't even serve healthy food to our kids at school. :(

-Hydration- Yep good ol water. Don't buy into the hype about sports drinks and vitamin water...phooey on those crap ass companies who try to trick us into BUYING fricken WATER with CALORIES! You need to drink AT LEAST half your weight in water. Or 1 liter per 50lbs. Yes you will pee a lot at first but look at it as flushing your body of all the toxins hiding out in your fat cells. So quit your bitching about going to the bathroom all day. You wanna get fit you gotta drink your water period.

-Food- Ahhhh here we go. Yep 80% of your success is diet. I use the word "diet" loosely. This is ENTIRELY true. But the "diet" industry has us so messed up in the head we can't figure out which way to tip the food pyramid! I'm telling you I have tweaked every diet there is and NOTHING works like Paleo or Primal eating. Is it all you can eat of every food group? No. Is it counting points? No Is it weighing food? No. It's freeeeeedom from all that! The rules are simple, but you have to read up on it. I love The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. He explains it will some science and humor. (Robb Wolf has no clue who I am & I dont get anything from giving his book props)

So ya see it's simple but not at all easy.

3 Fruits and Veggies Tips (Important)

It's recommended that we eat 6-10 fruits and vegetables a day. Here in the States it is reported the actual average of fruits and veggies eaten each day is just 2.

Yup, just 2.

Now, I don't know where you stand on this, but overall, it really is a sad state of nutritional affairs.

But do not despair! It's not that tough to get more fruits and veggies in each day.

Here are some super simple tips to get you started:

1) Buy 'em pre-chopped

Look, I can be lazy, too ;-) There's nothing wrong with not wanting to go through the hassle of having to chop up fruits and veggies. If you want to buy them pre-chopped go ahead. It's much better for you than not eating them.

2) Carry 'em with you

Load up a plastic baggie with your pre-chopped veggies and bring them to work. Seriously, see how easy this can be!

3) Add real fruit to your yogurt

Have some yogurt for breakfast and add some fresh blueberries, raspberries or blackberries. It's that simple!

Bonus tip: A great way to provide your body with the nutritional foundation you need each day is a Whole Foods based multi-vitamin. I'm a proud Prograde Nutrition partner and they have a terrific product called VGF 25+ that is made from 25 veggies, greens and fruits.

The best part is you can try Prograde's VGF 25+ for FREE! (There's just a small S & H charge)
VGF 25+ Free

I hope you have an awesome weekend. Be sure to use these tips and let me know how they help you out. Or send me some of your own!

Yours in health,




PS - You can see all the natural ingredients they use to make VGF 25+ at Prograde VGF 25+

Holiday Calorie Control Tip #2

Yesterday we discussed how crucial it is for you to have a PLAN to control your calorie intake during the holidays. Today's tip is even more simple and expands on the premise.

Plan on staying away from the booze.

Look, a drink or two isn't going to be the end of the world. But when two turns to three...

I'm not getting on my soap box here. I'm just telling you something you already know:

Booze leads to bad decisions. And in this case, we're talking about bad eating decisions.

When alcohol enters the equation even the best laid plans crumble. The extra calories from the cocktails is one thing. But really it's the extra calories you chew that start to add up.

One piece of cake turns to two...

A handful of chips turns into a a bag...

The dip sitting in front of you mysteriously vanishes...into your belly...

You get the picture. ;-)

Have fun. Enjoy yourself. Just be conscious of what alcohol does to your decision making.

Yours in health,




PS - Rememeber, Prograde Nutrition's HUGE Holiday Savings ends TONIGHT. You definitely want to get over to PROGRADE SPECIALS right NOW and place you order to save 15% on all their killer products. It's my duty as a proud Prograde Partner to remind you ;-)

Holiday Calorie Control Tip #1

I know you know this.

You know you know this.


Fail to plan, plan to fail.

You can't just HOPE you're going to behave yourself at holiday parties. You can't just do the same old things you've been doing. You can't just miss breakfast. have a light lunch and then go to a party filled with temptation and not go a little insane on the cheese platter ;-)

You have to plan your meals.

You have to plan your workouts.

You have to set your goals in stone.

You don't want to be the person that comes out of the holidays 5 to 10 pounds heavier, do you?

If you don't plan your strategy from preventing it, well, you can PLAN on getting some new clothes that fit your new size.

This is far from doom and gloom. You can still enjoy your favorite foods at parties. You can still have a great time.

But what you can't do is just free-for-all it and stuff your face with everything put in front of you. You know that.


Tell you what: Plan on taking a nice 30 minute walk this weekend and do some solid thinking about what your plan will be. And when you get back home, put it on paper and commit to it.

And think about how great you'll feel about yourself when January comes after you've followed your plan. Oh, and be sure to reward yourself to by doing something special for yourself.


Yours in health,


PS - As a proud Prograde Nutrition partner I have to remind you Prograde is having a heck of a Holiday Blow Out on ALL of their awesome products. Everything you need, including the coupon code to save 15% on all Prograde Nutrition products is right here: Prograde Special

Hurry because this deal expires this Friday, December 11th at 11:59pm EST.

Huge Holiday Savings on Prograde Nutrition

I can't believe they're doing this - seriously.

As you know, I'm a proud Prograde Nutrition partner, so when something like this comes across my desk, well, I share it with you immediately.


Prograde is having a heck of a Holiday Blow Out. It's pretty obvious they don't want you "shutting it down" the last couple weeks of December.


Believe it or not they are putting all of their awesome products on sale this week for 15% off! I don't think they've ever done this before, and they probably won't do it ever again. Their products are so good and the company is growing so fast they just don't have to.

So my recommendation to you is to get on over to Prograde Specials right NOW and stock up.


This deal expires this Friday, December 11th at 11:59pm EST. But don't wait until later to order. You might get busy, you might forget...and trust me you WILL regret missing out on this if you do.


Yours in health,



PS - Everything you need, including the coupon code to save 15% on all Prograde Nutrition products is right here: Prograde Specials

The “old body building way” vs. the Circuit training method.
As we have discussed before the “old body building” was and still is strenous work and does not make for a lean toner body unless you work hard continuously. It is very time consuming and can actual harm you physically if you over due it. Whereas Circuit training is a combination of high intensity aerobics and resistance training.
Circuit training is designed to be easy to follow and build muscle, targets fat loss and helps with heart and lung fitness.
An exercise “Circuit” is one completion of all prescribed exercises in your program and when one circuit is complete; you then begin the first exercise again and start your second circuit.
Generally, the time between circuit training is short with rapid movement on to the next exercise.
Circuit Training has many advantages over “the old body building way”
* Can be adapted for any size workout area.
* Can be customized for specificity; easy to adapt to your sport
* Participants normally work in small groups, allowing beginners to be guided by more experienced individuals, as well as benefiting from the supervision of the instructor.
* May be easily structured to provide a whole body workout
* May not require expensive gym equipment
According to the Cooper Institute in Dallas, TX: “Circuit training is the most scientifically proven exercise system. It’s time efficient and incorporates strength, flexibility and cardio in the same workout.”
Circuittraining programs often take an average of 30 minutes to complete, and offer the same advantages as a one-hour-long regular workout would provide. This also means that circuit training is an excellent choice for people who cannot afford to spend 2-3 hours at the gym on a regular basis.
Circuit training is a great way to exercise especially if you are not in the financial situation to afford “expensive” equipment.
Circuit training rotations can include push up, sit ups or other forms of abdominal training, jumping jacks and squat thrusts to name a few. Circuit training is a plan and can also be done using weight machines, elastic resistance or hand held weights.
Many times circuit training follows a specific them, such as combining different exercises or using boxing techniques.

With Circuit training a person does as many repetitions of an exercise as possible during a fixed time period, then moves on to the next exercise. This also allows for a “recovery time” before starting the next circuit.
Because Circuit training is so adaptable and can be used with any type of equipment available, it is the most sought after choice for people who want to exercise outdoors.
However, in a gym, Circuit training routine can include the treadmill, followed by abs works then followed by cardio, bicycle and so on. These are still done at a high intensity, but works far better than the “old” workout way and is much more effective in losing weight quickly and correctly.